I watched The GI Joe episode of The Toys That Made Us and was impressed with how inventive and enthusiastic the folks at Hasbro were to reinvent GI Joe for a new generation back in 1981. Where is that enthusiasm now?

Excellent observation and question. I think GI Joe meant a lot to the Hassenfelds. Not sure if it means as much to current leadership outside of Derryl Depriest.

I watched The GI Joe episode of The Toys That Made Us and was impressed with how inventive and enthusiastic the folks at Hasbro were to reinvent GI Joe for a new generation back in 1981. Where is that enthusiasm now?

I think it came and went with Rise of Cobra. For that movie, Hasbro updated the brand to appeal to the "videogame" kid crowd. The Joes were in black body armor and had AMP suits. Cobra Vipers had completely updated uniforms (almost "Army of Two" in appearance). All kinds of new looks for many elements of GI Joe.

But the parents (fans of the 80's Joes) rejected it wholesale and passed on that rejection to their kids. It was damned if they did and damned if they don't. There was no way to please both the parents and the kids.

I read that this is going to be a reboot instead of a GI JOE 3 movie continuation. I like the idea that they will make something different than in the other 2 movies and probably closer to the origins from the cartoon or the comics...

Excellent observation and question. I think GI Joe meant a lot to the Hassenfelds. Not sure if it means as much to current leadership outside of Derryl Depriest.

The story from TTTMU of how Joe was reinvented for the 80's was incredibly cool! The voice of reason who shut the whole thing down until they had a proper hook is something sorely needed infused into all legacy properties these days- TF, Star Wars, etc. You can't use nostalgia as your fuel indefinitely or eventually people will see the wizard behind the curtain and turn on you. There has to be something fresh and innovative about it and a willingness to take chances.

Oddly this sometimes doesn't happen until people give up all hope that whatever it is will even work as a movie, toy line, etc. Take Transformers in early 2000 when Steven Spielberg sought out Michael Bay to direct a feature film. Bay hated the idea at first and couldn't see a way to make a toy line important as a movie. That is until he took the germ of the concept and made it all his to great effect. The brand was still chugging along in the absence of a film, but it didn't have nearly enough rocket fuel to make anyone care prior to the films release. That is until 2007 when the first TF movie hit and inspired a whole new generation to care about TF... just like GI Joe did for me when the brand was reinvigorated in the 80's.

I have two hopes for the 2020 film. 1. The film will be character driven, Hama wrote some compelling core characters and I feel his input would be useful to have it feel like Gi Joe. Having well written, compelling characters with good stories behind them is important 2. The film is set in the 80s, I feel that this would make the film more interesting and truer to its roots, who really want a modern interpretation with the origin coming out of 911 and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? Retro is in. Look at how successful Stranger Things was.

If the film is successful with fans who are parents then they can get their kids into it. Well designed Joes and Cobras will make interesting toys that kids could get into even though kids aren't playing with action figures as much as they did when we were kids. A video game tie in might be more successful.

It will be interesting to see what Hasbro and Paramount do. Hopefully it will be good. And hopefully we will see some more 3.75 figures and vehicles out of it.

I have two hopes for the 2020 film. 1. The film will be character driven, Hama wrote some compelling core characters and I feel his input would be useful to have it feel like Gi Joe. Having well written, compelling characters with good stories behind them is important 2. The film is set in the 80s, I feel that this would make the film more interesting and truer to its roots, who really want a modern interpretation with the origin coming out of 911 and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? Retro is in. Look at how successful Stranger Things was.

This and this.

A Joe film based in the 80's would be a lot better, it would allow it to be more surreal and less tied to real-world events.